Recreation 



Segment Designation 



Guidelines 



Segments are rivers, sections of rivers, or groups of tributaries (such 

 as the upper drainage or headwater tributaries of a major river) that 

 have relatively homogeneous recreational use patterns and values. 



On the 1:100,000 maps provided, use a red pencil to mark the boundaries 

 of each river segment you feel is significant to recreation. You should 

 consider every stream or river in your management region. It is not 

 expected, however, that every stream or river will be significant to river 

 recreation and no designation is needed in these cases. Lakes and 

 reservoirs are not to be considered. For each segment considered 

 significant, bracket its upper and lower end points/^ on the map in red 

 pencil and label each end point with a river mile, physical feature, or 

 other means of identifying the endpoint . . .see attached example. 



River Segments will not have an average length; they can be very short 

 (such as the Mad Mile Whitewater section of the Swan River) or fairly 

 long (such as the Smith River between Camp baker and Eden Bridge, a popular 

 59-mile float). When in doubt, however, define the segments to be longer 

 than shorter. It is more desirable to have several longer segments, than 

 to have short, choppy segments every time the river changes slightly. 



If you feel a river segment logically extends outside your management 

 jurisdiction, that is fine; place the end point wherever you feel it 

 belongs. 



Headwaters areas of rivers or sub-drainages can be defined as a single 

 "segment." It may make sense to do this for headwater or drainage regions 

 which have some consistent level of recreational value, but for which 

 detailed information on every small tributary in the area is not available. 

 To designate such a segment, circle the entire area of significance. 



\^fhen defining segments, think about how each will rate on the following 

 criteria. If a potential segment would change substantially on one or 

 more of the criteria, then the segment could be divided into two or more 

 separate ones. The criteria are: 



1) boating: 



2) fishing; 



3) other recreational activities such as camping, hiking, and swimming; 



4) scenic quality; 



5) Recreation Opportunity Setting Class (from Urban to Primitive); 



6) access to the river corridor; and 



7) use levels; 



The segments you and other state and federal managers identify will be 

 combined and adjusted by rivers study project staff to develop a set of 

 uniform segments. By a second mailing, you will be asked to evaluate each 

 river segment in regard to the above criteria. 



